The Lost Boy
by Mel J1701
Summary: A decade after the terrible tragedy hits one of their own, the Camdens' are still struggling to come to terms with their grief. Then an exchange student from Scotland enters their home and turns their live upside-down once again...
1. PROLOGUE Our Blue Eyed Boy

**Title: ** The Lost Boy   
**Author: ** Mel (e-mail me at cosmic_quest@yahoo.com)   
**Disclaimer: ** The characters of '7th Heaven' are the property of Spelling Television, Brenda Hamptonand Warner Brothers and no profit has been made by my utilising them in my story. All other characters are my creation and therefore belong to me.   
**Rating: ** PG-13 for language and angst.   
**Summery: ** A decade after the terrible tragedy hits one of their own, the Camdens' are still struggling to come to terms with their grief. Then an exchange student from Scotland enters their home and turns their live upside-down once again...   
**Author's Notes: ** For the sake of the story, in the opening scene Matt is sixteen, Mary is fourteen, Lucy is twelve, Simon is ten and Ruthie is five with the twins not being born for another two years (i.e., when Matt is eighteen). This is my first attempt at '7th Heaven' fan fiction so I hope you guys enjoy. Also, please bear in mind that I live in the UK so I haven't seen any of the latest seasons yet.  
**Archiving: ** As long as you ask first, it should be okay. 

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PROLOGUE- ************Our Blue-Eyed Boy****  
  
**"It's gonna be so neat! There's sailing and archery and stuff."   
  
"When are you going to be back?" asked an anxious young voice, a stark contrast to the previous shout of boyish delight.   
  
Annie smiled inwardly as she heard Simon patiently reassure his young sister that his homecoming would only be a week away. At just ten years old, he was a remarkably thoughtful caring child compared to many boys his age. Even in his exhuberence of going off to an activity camp set in an idyllic coastal location with two schoolfriends, Simon took the time and patience to ensure Ruthie he wouldn't be gone long.   
  
"Hey, there's Steven and Joseph!" grinned the boy as Eric turned their minivan into the parking lot of the elemantary school.   
  
Maybe it was her maternal instincts or perhaps she just worried more after her youngest son, nevertheless Annie could not quell her nervousness at the thought of Simon going away on this school camping trip. She trusted the teachers to watch the children with the constant vigillance needed for a group of twenty-five not-so-angelic fourth graders but she wasn't sure if her son was ready for the responsibility of being away from his parents for a full week, the longest he had ever been seperated from them since the day he was born.   
  
"He'll be fine," Eric whispered to her as Simon bounded out of the family vehicle to meet with his friends.   
  
Then again, maybe _*she*_ was the one not ready to pack her baby boy off on his own.   
  
She sighed nostalgically as she helped Ruthie out of her seatbelt, watching Eric and Matt go to unload Simon's bags from the back. Matt, her eldest, now sixteen years old and standing just an inch or two shorter than his father, well on his way to becoming a man. She was starting to realise her children were growing up and there was nothing she could do about it except watch and admire the adults they were growing into.   
  
"Mom?" Ruthie quietly piped up.   
  
She was still preoccupied with her depressing thoughts but not so that she did not hear the little girl standing beside her. "Yes, honey?"   
  
"You think Simon will bring me back something?" came the mischievious reply.   
  
Annie smiled, pulling her daughter to her. "That'll be a surprise."   
  
At least, for the younger kids anyway, adulthood was still enough years in the future to ignore.   
  
The teachers were starting the herd the children onto the bus indicating it was time to say goodbye. Simon swung his rucksack onto his back then turned away from his friends to his family.   
  
"You promise to take care of Happy?" he asked regarding Matt and the girls with a solemn frown. Annie could hear in his voice it was not just Happy's welfare he was concerned about; Simon was beginning to realise that his departure was imminent and, like any ten-year-old on his first camping trip, he was not as confident as he thought he would be. "She needs alot of looking after, a dog is not something to be taken lightly."   
  
"We promise," Matt appeased.   
  
"Yeah, we've divided up the work," said Mary, "I'll take her on my runs every morning and afternoon."   
  
"And Matt will feed her," Lucy took over, "and I'll give her all the attention a dog could need."   
  
"Good, just remember that she'll miss me so you gotta make sure she's okay, y'know, eating well and that."   
  
"Happy will be fine," Eric assured, pulling his son into an embrace, "so don't worry and have a good time."   
  
When Eric released him, Annie moved to hug her son. "And remember we're only a phonecall away, if you need anything or want to come home, just call and we'll come get you."   
  
"I'll be okay, Mom," Simon said, holding her tight for a moment then wriggling free, worried in case his show of emotions would be pounced on by his teasing friends.   
  
He moved to join the other children boarding the bus. Just as he stepped inside, Simon turned one last time to grace his family with one last smile and a wave. It was such a sweet, beautific smile that would remain forever imprinted on Annie's mind. Later, she would mourn that innocent boy who, despite his excitment, had spared the time for one final goodbye. That boy who had been cruelly snatched from their arms too soon.   
  
It would be two days before Sergeant Michaels would come to the house, his dark eyes downcast and grief-stricken and the apprehension in the normally confidant police officer would intuitively inform them this was not a social call. He would ask the children to leave the room before sitting Annie and Eric down. As her husband would sob softly, Annie's mind would recall her precious little boy and his infectious smile, unable to comprehend how such a child as loving as Simon could have fallen overboard during stormy weather, how he could have drowned in the raging ocean...   
  
They would never have a body to commit to the earth, never be allowed that final closure. Instead, all Annie had left of Simon was his physical possessions and that one last smile.  
  
**End of ****PROLOGUE- ****Our Blue-Eyed Boy**  
  
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**


	2. CHAPTER ONE The Lost Children

THE LOST BOY  
by Melissa Jooty (email me at cosmic_quest@yahoo.com)**  
  
  
CHAPTER ONE- ****The Lost Children********  
  
**_**Ten Years Later...**_  
Sam was bored. He had finished all his homework ahead of his twin brother so was now at a loose end as what to do to occupy himself. He considered going to his room to read finish reading the book he had found in the basement a week ago but that thought led him to another idea.   
  
For that book held a secret, a secret he knew would upset his mother if she ever caught him with it. Inside the front cover of novel, written neatly though obviously by the hand of a child, was inscribed the name 'Simon Camden, age seven'. It was a name which instilled a sense of mystery and intrigue in Sam; his elder brother, who's death had brought a heavy darkness to the family that even an eight-year-old child could sense.   
  
And so, for reasons he couldn't really define, Sam found himself standing in Simon's bedroom. Today he was lucky, the majority of the time his mother kept the room locked up and out-of-bounds to anyone but her and, on occasion, his fifteen-year-old sister Ruthie.   
  
His twin brother David, between his sports and many friends, had little time or interest in a dead kid, especially one who died before they were even born. Sam, on the other hand, was the inquisitive twin who couldn't resist his curiosity and what could be more mysterious than a dead brother?   
  
And one of the few places in the house that still carried Simon's essence was his bedroom.   
  
His mother had cleaned up every trace of Simon from the rest of the house but the room remained untouched, like a museum or shrine dedicated to her late son. Sam would sometimes sneak into the room, a chill creeping through him as he would take in the half-built Mecchano set and comics that lay strewn on the bed.   
  
As he grew older, Sam's own interest in comic books coupled with his uncanny lucky streak and his quick-to-smile nature often elicted comments that he was very much like his long gone brother. For his part, the boy wasn't sure how he felt about the comparison. Sometimes, he was glad of the special connection to the brother he would never meet then there were other times, when his mother was in a mood or his father disappeared into his study to stare at the old photos, he hated Simon for dying and taking away his parent's smiles.   
  
Unfortunately, his parents were often in sullen moods these days. One night, when his adult siblings Matt and Mary were visiting, Sam had overheard them quietly talking about what life was before Simon died, when the home was happy and the family intact.   
  
Sam sighed, moving backwards towards the door when he suddenly back into someone. He gasped, his eyes widening as he intuitively knew exactly how that person was.   
  
"What are you doing in here?!" The boy whirled around to meet the cold fury of his mother. "How many times have I told you never to come in here." It wasn't a question.   
  
"I...I'm sorry, Mom," the eight-year-old stuttered.   
  
His mother took him by the arm, pulling him from the room then locking the door shut behind them. She then turned her full attention back to her son. "I mean it, if I ever catch you in there I'll-"   
  
"You'll what- make me go live in the garage?" Sam didn't know what possessed him to say that, to hurt his mother like that.   
  
For a moment, she looked as if she was going to slap him then his father's calm voice called out. "Samuel, why don't you go to your room, son?" He looked past his mom to take in his father's understanding gaze.   
  
"Okay, Dad."   
  
He didn't need to be told twice, the boy quickly darted past his mother and to his own room across the hall, shutting the door behind him. He threw himself onto his bed, shifting up to the headboard then bringing his knees up to his chin. Outside he could hear his parents arguing over him and the room itself, not the first time and certainly not the last.   
  
David, who was sitting at the desk having abandoned his homework for a baseball magazine, turned in his chair to exchange a glance with his twin. "Sometimes it makes you wonder which kid she'd prefer alive, huh?"   
  
Sam just scowled, unable to feel any true anger towards his brother. After all, David just voiced what he thought every single day he passed the locked door to Simon's bedroom.   
  
*****************************   
  
"Why do you always protect them, Eric?"   
  
Eric heaved a weary sigh as Annie stalked into their bedroom after him. It seemed that was all he ever did sometimes. Was this what their marriage had come to- Annie possessively attacking anyone she perceived as coming between her and her memories while he ran interference between her and the family?   
  
Lucky for them, Matt and Mary did not have to wait long before they could escape the house for college but the younger children were not so fortunate to have age on their side. No wonder David spent most of his time away from the house, only eight years old and already looking at out-of-state college prospectuses, while the sensitive Sam had developed an almost obsessive interest in the boy whose absence had pulled the family apart.   
  
"Sam's just curious, Simon _*was*_ his brother too, Annie, and he has the right to remember him."   
  
"Simon was d...gone two years before he was born!" She never could associate Simon's name and death together in the same sentence, even after ten years.   
  
"Simon might have died ten years ago, Annie, but he has never been gone. Those boys have never been allowed to forget that, Simon is as much a presence in their lives as he would have been if he were still alive. Only, this way is not healthy for them or for you."   
  
Annie seemed stunned by his speech. He'd always tried to keep his patience when it came to her grief and her ways of coping with the accident. But instead of gradually recovering from their son's loss, her bleak emotions often appeared to overwhelm her increasingly as the years passed, affecting her relationship with him and the children.   
  
The twins, Matt, Mary...Lucy.   
  
Only Ruthie could succeed in communicating properly with his wife these days; the girl whose grief paralleled her mother's. Simon had been the closest to the then five-year-old, the age gap between the pair and the older three being enough to separate them. However, while Annie acted out her grief, Ruthie distanced herself and withdrew emotionally from everyone who loved her.   
  
"How can you say that?" Annie asked, her voice barely audible. "Simon was..."   
  
"Simon was _*my*_ son too, you know, and I loved him just as much as you did." His voice cracked but he forced himself to continue. "There comes a time when we have to let him rest. I don't know why a ten-year-old child was chosen to die, I...I just don't know but it's time to let him go, let him rest and concentrate on the living. Like those two eight-year-old boys who not only never knew their brother but they don't know their mother."   
  
Those poor boys, born almost two years after Simon's death. Occasionally Eric wondered if his wife viewed their birth as an unwelcome flicker of happiness at a time when all she wanted was to wallow in her misery. He tried to make it up to them, lavashing the attention they so lacked from their mother and encourage Annie to make more of an effort for Sam and David's sake.   
  
But much of the time, she resisted as if unable to invest her feelings in their youngest sons either fearful of becoming close in a world where a child was not safe from the clutches of death, or worried to love another child in a misplaced sense of guilt and loyalty to Simon.   
  
All these years of conselling bereaved parents and never would he have imagined what the death of a child could do to a mother or father, touching every aspect of that one's life. No parent ever considered burying their own child for with such an unnatural act they were also burying their own hopes and dreams for the future. It was so hard to overcome the shock of such a short life being snuffed out like a light and remember the living still went on.   
  
Annie sat down hard on the bed. "Of course I love Sam and David, they're my sons."   
  
He didn't want to hurt any more than she had been through. "I know, but they're also very young, they need their mother to be there for them..."   
  
"Not pining for a ghost you mean." Those were harsh words but all the fight was gone from her.   
  
"We'll always love Simon, he'll always have a place in our hearts and in our family. The twins need us more than he does now. We need to start rebuilding this family, we can't let this hurt us any more. Our boy would never have wanted his loss to be our fall."   
  
There was a long moment of silence before Annie finally broke the hush. "It's Connor's birthday today."   
  
So she _*had*_ remembered. Then again, how could she forget?   
  
Eric followed her eyes to where they were focused on the array of photographs adorning the dressing table. The left side was more of a shrine dedicated to Simon with those photos depicting their son from infancy to the last one taken at his tenth birthday party, two months before his death. There were no other pictures of the boy in the house, in many ways this was Annie's attempt to almost hoard his memory away in a vain effort to ease her pain. On the right of the table, however, were more general family pictures of the children and family portraits. One stood out as taking pride in the collection; it was recent, a gold-plated framed photo of a fair-haired infant grinning toothlessly at the camera.   
  
Connor Simon Camden, their first and only grandchild now a full year old and yet they'd never once set eyes upon the little boy. Of course, his mother- their middle daughter Lucy- had good intention to keep her son away from them. There was still so much unresolved hurt that lay between parents and daughter.   
  
"Yes, I can't believe it's been a year."   
  
"I hope Ruthie remembered to send a card." His wife's voice was soft, wistful and heavy with remorse.  
  
"She did, I saw her writing a cute 'Winnie The Pooh' card for him."  
  
For more than five years, Ruthie was the only family member who Lucy allowed contact with. Every day since that fateful summer, Eric had to fight down all his instincts of demanding her address from his youngest daughter, who had chosen loyalty to her sister over confessing to her parents. On the other hand, he also knew that if he did succeed in wearing down Ruthie and tracing Lucy's address, she would just take off and they would probably lose whatever minute chance they had to see Lucy and Connor forever.   
  
"D-do you blame me?" Annie struggled to meet his gaze before her eyes skittered away. It was almost enough to bring tears to his own eyes; what had happened to the strong willed woman he had married? "Do you blame me for driving her away?"   
  
It was the first time she had ever found the courage to voice that question.   
  
Part of Eric, the fallible human part who only wanted his daughter back in his arms, wanted to scream 'Yes, of course, I do!'. In many ways, it was largely due to Annie's cold attitude which saw Lucy's once infinite tolerance snap. He could still remember the events leading up to the day Lucy walked out of the family without a backward glance with a striking clarity.   
  
That summer had been tough for all of them, the twins were screaming toddlers and the older children were all in their adolescence coping with two parents in perpetual mourning; looking back, it was all a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen...and it did.   
  
Mary, then a sullen nineteen-year-old with a chip on her shoulder, had just returned from Buffalo and finally ready to put her delinquency behind her. Annie, unable to cope with Mary's absence, had been so gratified to have their eldest daughter home again that her desperation to have the family intact only succeeded in pushing Matt, Lucy and Ruthie away. The trio had difficulties with Annie's temporary favouritism of Mary the prodigal daughter and, in turn, made their discontent known.   
  
That was when Annie forced the three into the make-shift 'apartment' of the garage, hence Sam's cruel taunt. If only Eric had said something then maybe things would not have deteriorated so. Matt and Ruthie coped reasonably well, though with understandable anger. Lucy was a different story; the seventeen-year-old had finally tired of years of being punished when Mary's plans went haywire or watching her sister being praised when she deserved to be disciplined.   
  
Annie was stunned when Social Services visited to inform them that Lucy, then still a minor, had asked to be taken into care due to parental neglect. It was the sharp shock his wife needed to understand what she had put the children through. But it was too late to make amends; at Lucy's request, Social Services had already moved their daughter to another city knowing how easily they could track her down with his connections.   
  
Lucy was placed in a foster home until her eighteenth birthday, only five months later and by which time it was too late to petition the courts to grant back custody. Once graduating school, she applied for a scholarship to some Californian university and was also working to provide for herself. And neither she nor Social Services had any intention of revealing her whereabouts. It took a further sixteen months before she contacted Ruthie, making it abundantly clear to the then eleven-year-old was the only one she was interested in communicating with although she did send birthday and Christmas cards for Matt and the twins.   
  
Of course, Eric knew it was not only his wife to be blamed for Lucy's sudden departure, both he and Mary had their own parts to play. Mary, still unable to forgive herself, for being so smug after her atrocious behaviour and moreso, it was his fault for not doing his job properly. For not being the father Lucy needed to defend her, for not being the husband who forced his wife to seek help.   
  
No, he couldn't lay the blame on Annie. Not when he was so largely at fault too. And he could just have the faith to believe that one day Lucy would allow them to be a part of her and her son's life.   
  
"No...No, I don't blame you. We should both have seen her pain; I'm her father, I should have done more."   
  
"Do you think she'll ever come home?"   
  
Eric nodded, his faith in his daughter's ability to one day forgive unflinching. "When she's ready, she will...And when she does, we'll be here for her."   
  
Annie gave him a watery smile before pulling him into her embrace. "Oh Eric..." she murmured. He could feel the moiture of her tears soaking into his shirt. "I miss them so much."   
  
It was one of the first times in a long time since she had allowed him close. And together, they wept for their lost children; a cleansing cry long overdue. It was the first step in rebuilding the family as the Camdens' rose out from the ashes of ten years of hurt and grief.   
  
Cried out, they stood in a comfortable silence for a few minutes still held in each other's arms. Finally, Eric cleared his throat and moved back slightly so he could capture his wife's eyes.   
  
"You know, Joe Young- the university's special programs co-ordinator- mentioned that he was having problems finding a room in residence for an exchange student coming to the States next week. I haven't said anything to him but I was thinking maybe he could stay here...say until the problem is cleared up. With the older kids away, there's plenty of room."   
  
Before he was afraid to even hint at such a suggestion but he felt they were at last on their way to smoother ground. He recalled the months that Robbie had stayed with them as an unofficial foster child had been the most peaceful period for the family during the entire decade. Perhaps having another person, someone who was detached from the family and coming without preconceptions of how they should be acting, was exactly what was needed. This young student would only require basic needs, like meals and laundry, but the family wouldn't have to invest emotionally.   
  
Annie did not seem to certain. "I don't know, Eric." She shook her head slowly. "You do remember the trouble we had with Pierre."   
  
"Yes, but Pierre was just in high school. This kid is twenty-one, he's already completed his medical degree and is taking a year out before doing his post-grad. He's hardly a little boy. And there won't be any language barrier since he comes from Scotland. Plus, this time we don't have two hormone-filled teenage girls in the house."   
  
Granted, Ruthie was the teenage girl this time around, nevertheless she carried herself with more maturity and reserve than her sisters ever did. Eric could never imagine her making such a fuss over a boy, no matter who he was or what he looked like. And if she did, well, he would delighted to see his daughter opening up, he always worried that she was too aloof with her peers.   
  
"You sound like you've been doing your homework on this boy," Annie said in amused admonishment. He smiled, grateful to hear humour in her voice for the first time in a long time. Taking that as a good sign, Eric gave her a plaintive look and she sighed. "I'll think about it...But no promises."  
  
He grinned. "You won't regret it, this is just what we need."   
  
"Yeah, one more pile of laundry," she muttered, however, the statement lacked the venom she normally injected in her sarcasm.   
  
Yes, Eric was able to see his family taking it's first faltering steps back from the abyss of death and pain. He even hoped this student would have the patience and desire to maybe provide the twins with a sense of big brotherly support, since Matt hardly had the time to be anymore than an absent brother to them.   
  
Things were never going to be normal, Eric accepted that just as he accepted it was unfair to place so much hope onto some strange kid who was just staying a handful of days but he could feel that change for the better was on the horizon. Little did he know the exact extent of those changes were going to have upon the Camdens' and indeed upon everything they had believed in...   
  
** CHAPTER ONE- The Lost Children**  
  
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_**Well, what did you guys think? Should I continue? Please feel free to email me or review directly at FFN to tell me what you think of the story.**_  



	3. CHAPTER TWO A Friend From The East

**The Lost Boy  
by Melissa Jooty (email me at cosmic_quest@yahoo.com)  
  
  
CHAPTER TWO- A Friend From The East****  
**

As Annie put the final touches to Matt's old bedroom, the soon-to-be bedroom for their temporary resident, while Eric left for the airport to collect the exchange student whom they had since discovered had a name in the form of Kieran Connelly.   
  
It was odd that she still referred to the room as Matt's considering her eldest had not properly slept in it for eight years. It had belonged to Ruthie for a brief period between Simon's death, when Matt moved into the newly renovated loft to allow his sister the room, and the twins' birth. There was a huge reshuffling of the rooms during that time as Matt moved out and Mary and Lucy moved to the loft to allow the twins their double bedroom. Those three years were the last time that the house was fully lived in and occupied.   
  
When Lucy left, Mary moved into university accommodation shortly after, shame-faced for the role she played in her sister's departure, and Ruthie escaped into the loft in a further measure of detaching herself from everyone else. It was that day that Annie felt her family was falling away, that day when for the first time since Ruthie's birth that they had a spare bedroom. The very same bedroom that was destined to be Simon's when he had finally outgrown sharing a room with his younger sister.   
  
Annie choked back a sob. The last thing they needed was the exchange student walking in on her blubbering like a madwoman. It was time she stopped linking every thought to her lost son; Eric was right in the respect, there had to be a time to allow Simon rest. She just wasn't sure if she was ready to let him go so easily.   
  
_*He's been gone for ten years.*_   
  
No, it was time to think of the living. Remaining a little unsure of whether it was the right decision to allow Eric into cajoling her to offering Kieran Connelly accommodation in their house, she knew she had to make an effort for her husband's sake and the sake of the children still with her. Eric was so certain this was the right way forward, the way out of the black chasm that had enveloped their lives for a decade; she didn't have to heart to deny him.   
  
"Smells a bit better than when Matt lived here."   
  
Annie jumped slightly at the matter-of-fact voice and looked up to find Ruthie regarding her in that ever-present indifference. Her baby girl, only fifteen years old, and her only daughter remaining close at home yet so far out of reach much like Lucy was. Where had that sweet, affectionate little girl she once knew so well gone?   
  
Desperate to engage the girl in any form of conversation, she gave a quiet laugh. "Let's hope this boy doesn't have the same habits like hoarding old socks and mouldy plates as your brother enjoyed doing." Ruthie smiled- for a brief moment Annie saw her little girl's love in her deep brown eyes- then she glanced away, gone. "I...eh, I heard you sent Connor a card." It was almost ridiculous, the way her voice took on the hesitant, guilty tones of a chastised schoolgirl whenever she broached this subject with Ruthie, as if she were the child waiting for appraisals from the merciless judge in the form of her own teenage daughter.  
  
Ruthie just nodded slightly, her expression blank of emotion. "Yeah, I sent him ten dollars too, maybe Lucy will get the kid one of those Teletubbie things he likes so much."  
  
She admitted there was a vague flash of disapproval; she thought they had taught the children better than to focus so much on material gifts when it came to Christmas and birthdays. Ironically, look at where all those wonderful morals and values had taken her family. She and Eric once arrogantly considered themselves the perfect parents yet it was their rigid attitudes which was the underlying cause of their daughter's absence in their lives. So who was she to dictate how Lucy raised her child? Lucy was always such a caring and nurturing girl and Annie had no doubt she would instil the same qualities in her little son.   
  
Accepting this might have hurt were it not for the more agonising realization that Ruthie knew more about Connor than the infant's own grandparents.  
  
Annie hoped she didn't sound too eager when she asked, "Lucy doing okay?"  
  
"She's good."  
  
It was a testament of her own self-control fighting back the urge to shake more details out of Ruthie, to force the teenager to give her just a little scrap of information regarding her beloved daughter and the grandson whom she'd never met yet already loved with all her heart. Annie knew the way to Lucy could never be through Ruthie, the sisters had grown very close in spite of- or perhaps due to- the distance between them, and the younger girl would sooner pack her bags than betray her sister's confidence. And so, it was a difficult path the mother trod between striving for news on her elder daughter while not seeking to alienate her younger daughter.  
  
"That's good then," Annie smiled tightly.  
  
Ruthie regarded her mother thoughtfully. "She said she'll be teaching third grade next semester and Josh just got some promotion in his firm."  
  
Her forced smile relaxed into a delighted grin at this miniscule tidings. Her worries always lightened when Ruthie saw fit to tell her about Lucy. It was galling to be at the mercy of a fifteen-year-old kid but when it came to her middle daughter, Annie would seriously consider selling her soul to know she was making a mark in the world.  
  
As for Josh, he was apparently a young lawyer and, more importantly, Connor's father and Lucy's...whatever. Ruthie had never mentioned marriage, although it had sounded as if the two were dating a year or two before Connor was born and Josh continued to play a large role in both Lucy and the boy's lives. While in some ways, Annie would have preferred for Lucy to have that extra stability of marriage in her relationship to her son's father, it was an unbearable image to think of her daughter walking down the aisle without any of her family there to witness the event.  
  
"Lucy will be a wonderful teacher." Ruthie nodded, a sincere smile gracing her lips. Annie would have questioned her further but she knew the moment was gone and the subject was closed. For now, she decided to let it go. "Where are the boys? I haven't heard a peep out of them all morning."  
  
"Sam's in his room but David is away playing ball, I guess."   
  
Another two children destined to follow in their sisters' footsteps, David withdrawing physically and Sam emotionally. But not anymore, they were still within her reach.   
  
It was then she noticed the backpack Ruthie was carrying. "Going out?" she asked.   
  
Ruthie just shrugged. "Yeah."   
  
Unlike Matt, Mary and Lucy before her, she never sought permission nor did she ever explain where she was going. There was little point in grounding her since Ruthie did not seem the least bothered at being locked in her room and would simply finish extra punishment chores without complaint. In the end it was far more stressful on them to discipline her for such transgressions and they let her be, consoling themselves with the fact that Ruthie was far more level-headed than the other three to be involved in any serious trouble.   
  
"Aren't you staying to meet Kieran?" Annie prayed in vain to hear some girlish enthusiasm at having an older boy living in the house.   
  
"He'll be here when I get back, won't he?" Not a hint of interest there. "I'm just going to hang with some of the guys at school, we're not climbing Mount Everest."   
  
"Okay, just try not to get into any mischief," Annie teased.   
  
She remembered this would be the point where Mary and Lucy would stutter some response, indeed intending to some petty teenage high jinks. Ruthie just snorted in disgust, rolling her eyes.   
  
"Mom, I'm fifteen, not five."   
  
Her mother sighed. "Well, try to be home for supper. I want to put some essence of normality for Kieran."   
  
Ruthie shrugged, already walking away. Annie was sure she heard the teenager mutter something like, 'bit late for that' but it was low enough for her to ignore. In many ways the girl was right, she only voiced what her mother tried to so hard to suppress.  


*****************************

As it was, Kieran did not arrive until early evening due to flight delays. There was a calm tranquillity in the house and the children, even Ruthie, were in surprisingly good spirits with their parents' moods lifting in response to the youngsters. Watching his wife happily potter around the kitchen putting last minute touches to the roast chicken, Eric was pleased he had pushed the issue of taking in this boy.  
  
When the doorbell shrilled, there was an eager yell of, "I'll get it, I'll get it!"  
  
Eric smiled as Sam ran for the door. The young boy so eager to please, so welcoming to even strangers he had never met. He prayed that Sam would never lose the boyish enthusiasm and sweet nature, which endeared the boy to all who knew him.  
  
The front door had barely swung open before Sam cheerily greeted, "Hi, I'm Sam, I live here."  
  
"Hiya, Sam, I'm Kieran," came his amused response in a thick Scottish brogue, "I guess for a wee while, I live here too."  
  
Moving behind his son, Eric reached out a hand to the young man standing there. "Hello, I'm Eric Camden, welcome to America."  
  
Kieran shook his hand firmly. "Pleased to meet you, sir. Mr Young was going to stop in with me but he had to collect his daughter from her friends. I hope you don't mind me just dropping in like this."  
  
"No, of course not," Eric smiled, ushering the boy into the house, "and please call me 'Eric', we don't stand on ceremony in this house, too many people for that!"

"I understand," Kieran laughed, "I have five sisters and sometimes it seems the house is more of a zoo than a house!"

Leading the boy to the sofa, Sam noticed a battered comic book peaking out of a pocket of Kieran's rucksack. "Hey, you like comics too? Do you like the 'Blue ? Or 'Spiderman'? They're my favourites, I've read all the new ones and my half of the bedroom is decorated with them."

  
"You sound like such a geek," David scoffed, trudging down the stairs into the living room evidently curious of their new visitor.

Kieran, however, seemed to sense this and grinned. "You sound just like me at your age," he reassured. "My room was a shrine to the entire Marvel universe."

Sam beamed at the comparison. Kieran had won over a friend for life in the little boy.

Like his elder sisters, David often spoke before thinking and Eric could see Sam had been hurt by his brother's comment. It was curious how diverse the twins were, they would make a psychologist's dream study. David clearly was as self-confident and out-going as Mary and Ruthie, a stark contrast to the placid and introverted Sam who reminded Eric so much of Lucy and, at times, their precious Simon. Often pushed out of the limelight by his boisterous twin, Sam no doubt felt he needed to prove himself to Kieran, a temporary elder brother he so craved.

Of course, he would always have Matt but the eldest Camden son was not only settled so far away on the West Coast, the huge age gap dividing them and the fact that Matt was now in an adult mind-set he was now less of an elder brother and more of an uncle figure to the boys. When their eldest visited for Easter earlier in the year, it saddened both Eric and Annie to see their boys had grown so far apart. Matt tried to join in with the twins but he couldn't quite feign an interest in their childish humour and the eight-year-olds' sensed he was struggling to stave off his disapproval of their pranks.

Kieran, on the other hand, was the best of both worlds. As a college student, he possessed the self-awareness and worldliness that came with young manhood yet, as he did not have the responsibilities that came with juggling a career and thinking of settling down with a family of his own, he was still young and immature enough to connect to his childhood. It was the same reason why Matt could form a brotherly bond with Ruthie but not with the twins, who were born when he was graduating high school.

"Dinner is nearly ready, boys," Annie announced, strolling in from the kitchen, the wonderful smell of her roast chicken wafting into the living room.

"Kieran, this is my wife Annie, and my young son and Sam's twin brother David."

"Hello," Kieran politely greeted, "nice to meet you both."

Always impressed by good manners in the young, Annie smiled warmly at the young man. "It's great to have you here, Kieran, I hope you have a happy stay in America."

"My youngest daughter Ruthie should be home soon," Eric said, "there's more of the brood but these three are the only one living at home at the moment."

He knew he should have mentioned the elder four by name but he never had the strength to then have to explain Lucy's estrangement and the loss of Simon. The wounds were still too raw to bear his family's pain to a virtual stranger. He would never forget Simon but sometimes it was just easier to pretend he was off at university living the future he was prematurely denied.

Thankfully, David piped a question before the atmosphere could turn awkward and heavy. "So you like anything else besides comic books? Like sport?"

By the time the roast dinner and vegetables were served, Kieran was firmly accepted by both boys once he had informed David not only was he interested in comics but he was a keen sportsman involved in soccer, swimming and rugby (David was very impressed by the description of rugby being 'just like American Football without the pads and helmet'). Even his typically taciturn daughter, when she finally arrived home ten minutes after the family sat down to eat, seemed to find the young Scot likeable. It was obvious to Eric she enjoyed sharing company with someone closer to her own age since usually she had little patience for her 'old' parents or immature eight-year-old brothers.

"What did you think?" Eric quietly asked, when the children had retreated to the living room to watch a DVD leaving he and Annie to wash up in the kitchen.

It was enchanting to hear Sam and David talking a-mile-a-minute, revelling in the attention Kieran was quite happy to lavish on them for now. The boy would certainly make an excellent paediatrician if he chose to specialise in that field. He could hear Ruthie try to goad Kieran into an argument a few times but he refused to take the bait. She eventually gave in and joined in the conversation over whose schools were rowdier.

"He's a nice boy," Annie conceded. Her eyes softened. "He reminds me of a more talkative male version of Lucy."

Eric laughed. "Now that you mention it, he does, doesn't he?"

"You don't think we need to go on patrol now we have a teenage girl and a twenty-one-year-old boy in the house?"

Their guest was admittedly a handsome boy, as tall as Eric and athletically built. His mouse brown hair was cut short to almost military standards and spiked up slightly, his emerald green eyes sparkling with wry humour and intelligence. If a teenage Mary and Lucy were still at home, he definitely would have insisted on some kind of 'six-inch separation' rule they used to have in boarding schools of the sixties.

"No, I wouldn't worry too much, he had five sisters so I'm sure he can handle himself. Besides, this is Ruthie we're talking about..."

From overheard phone conversations and tit-bits of the boys' chattering, he knew his daughter had healthy interest in the opposite sex but she guarded her privacy so fiercely she would never bother Kieran under her parents' noses. He also felt Ruthie was more sensible enough to realize no decent twenty-one-year-old would seek anything other than friendship with a fifteen-year-old girl. She was more streetwise to that degree compared with her sisters at her age who would have been too delighted to have the attention of practically grown man to think of the consequences.

"She seems to be behaving herself," Annie said. She wasn't meaning the girl's conduct to a boy rather her general surliness seemed to have dissipated.

"I think this is good for her, to have someone of her own level. I guess she must have missed Robbie and Matt more than she let on."

Hearing laughter of the four youngsters drowning over the television, Eric shared a smile with his wife. He could almost sense the weary blanket of grief, which had been suffocating the house for too long, finally lift and allow his loved ones to breathe.

"I'm glad you had us do this," Annie murmured, drawing closer to her husband. "You were right, we needed this, we needed change. I think things are finally getting better for us. I hope so anyway. I don't want the kids to live in the past any more."

  
**End of CHAPTER TWO- A Friend From The East**  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++**  
** Okay, here it is, I've finally updated! Sorry it took me so long to get this out but I have to admit my new obsession with Harry Potter has kind of swept me away. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for all the kind reviews I've received for the first chapters. Please remember that things may be a little different since I have only seen up to about the fourth season and this story is set in what would be the thirteenth season. Also, the characters will have changed in response to the death of a son. I've got Matt as a police office though I've since read that he's in medical school. Sorry to all you Matt-lovers but I probably won't be changing that since I don't feel he was bright enough to get into med school (this was a guy who as sixteen was convinced he was shrinking because of a prank played on him by his eleven-year-old brother and his six-year-old sister!).  


In the next chapter, we'll see more of Ruthie and Annie interacting with Kieran and a few clues as to what's so special about him. Please do feel free to review or email me your opinions on what you think of this chapter and the story in general.**  
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